Updated on May 25th, 2025
In our first van build, we had a very simple van plumbing set up. It consisted of 5 gallons of water, and a tiny water pump, and that was about it! When we started designing for this second build, we knew we would be spending a lot more time in the van and would need a lot more than just a running water sink! And most especially we were going to need a toilet this time!
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Fresh Water
Let’s start with the fresh water side of the plumbing system. We have a 28 gallon fresh water tank from Northwest Conversions. This tank is filled from the outside using a gravity fill. We have chosen a locking water fill so that there is no way anyone can mess with it. Not that we would expect that but just in case.
The tank draw is located at the bottom of the tank and runs to a 3 gallon per minute 12v pump. From the pump the water then runs to a household carbon filter. From the filter the system starts to split. The first split sends one pipe to the bathroom area and the other towards the kitchen.
Cold water is then sent to the bathroom bidet, the kitchen faucet, the rear outdoor shower, and to the water heater using pex tubing. Yes, you read that right, our hand held bidet is cold water only, but we primarily use it as to flush the toilet so it’s not as big a deal as you might think. It allows us to use less toilet paper and less water to “flush” than the built in flush option on our cassette toilet.
After we spent the first year living on our Alberg 30 without hot water, I said I would never go without it again! We have a 2.5-gallon electric water heater. It runs off the AC side of the electrical system and it draws 1440W so we do need to be a little careful about what else is running on the inverter at the same time, but it is significantly less complicated than some of the other choices for hot water. Two and a half gallons may not seem like much, but we are used to taking “Navy” showers so for both of us to shower only uses about 1.5 gallons of water total.
The output from the water heater goes to both the sink and the shower.
To turn on our shower you turn on the shut off valves, and then set the mixer temp, and set the pressure. Then the water can be turned on and off on the shower head itself. We typically feed the shower head into our little pop-up shower tent so having that control on the shower head is really handy!
Our sink faucet is the same faucet we’ve used in both of our boats. It is a pretty low flow faucet, which you want when you are trying to conserve water. BUT my favorite feature is the button on the faucet head that allows you to “hold” the water. It really cuts down on water usage which is important when you only have 28 gallons!
Our faucet flows into a huge sink! I wanted to have the biggest and deepest sink we could fit. This sink is 22″ x 18″ x 9″. My only complaint about it is that the bottom is just a little too flat so we do end up with standing water sometimes. I love the filter cup and the grate at the bottom! The size makes doing dishes super easy, and the sink can double as a basket for items on the counter in a pinch.
Gray Water
The sink drains into a 5 gallon sceptor water tank that we use as a gray water tank. We carry an extra of these tanks so our total gray water capacity is 10 gallons. We have an RV adaptor on the sink drain and then Andy designed an adaptor for the tank so that the tank is fully sealed and the hose has no way of coming off when we are on the road. It also allows us to easily disconnect the grey water tank to dump it! This adaptor is now available in our store, as well as the option for a print your own file if you have access to a 3D printer.
Black Water
For the dreaded black water, we decided to go with a Thetford cassette toilet. The version we have allows for the cassette to be removed from the outside of the van, so it isn’t necessary to drag it through our living area. This Thetford toilet also has a built in flushing system that can be hard plumbed but over the years on the boat we’ve found that a handheld bidet does a much better job in these low-water situations.
The toilet empties into a 5 gallon cassette that can be emptied at any dumping station, or in a pinch a household toilet. We have a back-up cassette that give us a total of 10 gallons of black water capacity. We’ve found that we do not smell the cassette at all until it is very full and yes, we do use it for #2.
We will do a full breakdown and review of this toilet in a future post, as we’ve found it to be incredibly easy to use, dump, and clean! We think it’s a great option for campervan toilets!
Cost Breakdown
Note: All Costs are as of April/May 2024
Previous Costs: $23,521.20
- 28 Gallon Northwest Conversions Fresh Water Tank: $329.99
- Thetford Toilet and Toilet Door: $728.73 (Previously included in the budget in our cutting holes post)
- Faucet: $73.78
- Sink: $179.99
- Shurflo 3GPM Water Pump: $69.99
- Locking Fresh Water Inlet: $22.63
- Shower Mixer: $69.99
- Hand Held Bidet: $31.49
- Water Heater: $159.99
- Sink Drain Adaptor: $0 (We had an extra from the boat)
- Water Filter: $52.41
- Misc Plumbing (Pex, Fittings, etc): $131.78
- Gray Water Tanks: $0 (We repurposed old tanks from the boat)
New Costs: $1,122.04
Total Cost: $24,643.24
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